Invasive insects in plantation forest of Argentina

CORLEY J.C

Bariloche

Congreso; Adapating forest ecosystems and wood products to biotic and abiotic stress; 2019

LIA-INRA Orleans and IFAB (INTA Bariloche-CONICET)

In the last decades, growing international trade and tourism have significantly increased the rate at which non-native species reach new ecosystems. Plantation forests systems in South America are especially exposed to alien insects, partly because plantations are dominated by pines and eucalypts which have been introduced to produce timber and pulp, based, among other things, on the benefits related to the lack of native herbivores (i.e., the ?natural enemy release hypothesis?). As noted worldwide, where the invasion by non-indigenous forest insects is also rising, often strong negative economic and ecologic impacts on the invaded ecosystems are reported. Remarkably, the most damaging non-native forest insects found in plantation forestry in Argentina, are are common to other areas and regions of the Southern Hemisphere which cultivate similar tree species. This suggests common traits among invasive species and between the invaded ecosystems that may allow us to identify broad ecological patterns behind their invasion success. By focusing on several case studies of established alien insects feeding on pines and eucalypts in Argentina, I look into these patterns and explore how these affect the main strategies for the management of both species already present and to prevent the establishment of new pests of plantation forestry.